Can't help but feel a certain purity in this old gospel stuff. By no means is it high church music, but it makes my heart hurt for a time when you heard this wafting off your neighbor's porch, when worship was a part of home life and people belted out this gospel music with the joy that worship should bring. Not the same solemn tone as a hymn, even in solemn subject matter, because this music was separate from church music (unlike modern contemporary soup), it was meant to be listened to for pleasure, and that passion for both the subject and music still resonates.
